Dennis brightened the dinner party abruptly with his terse sketch of today’s literary culture: (1) read the reviews, (2) devour the new novels, (3) give out awards to a few authors, (4) forget all of those novels, and (5) repeat the process.

The bottle of cleanser fell into the sink, giving a sudden irritating crash. And Simon cranked his way through it all again: “If I could have a world with that noise or one without it, which would I choose?”